Why Jews Fast

[1] See the TABS essays, “The Absence of Yom Kippur in Nevi’im and Ketuvim,” and “Does Ezekiel in 572 B.C.E. Know of Yom Kippur,” for more discussion of this.

[2] Arguing that fasting is the plain meaning of the Yom Kippur text in Leviticus, Amos Hacham uses this argument together with a point about the term נפש, which in old Hebrew refers to the throat (not the soul). “Afflicting the throat,” he argues, would be a decent depiction of fasting; see for example Psalms 107:20, where we find the expression “hunger of the throat/spirit (נפש רעבה).” Amos Hacham, “Fasting in the Bible,” Machanaim 82 (5723), accessible online at Daat.

[3] Another example would be the reaction of the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead to the death of Saul and his sons in 1 Chronicles 10:12.

[4] Similarly in Nehemiah 9:1-2, the Jews observe a fast and express their mourning over the fact that they sinned by intermarriage.

^ט:א וּבְיוֹם֩ עֶשְׂרִ֨ים וְאַרְבָּעָ֜ה לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֗ה נֶאֶסְפ֤וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ בְּצ֣וֹם וּבְשַׂקִּ֔ים וַאֲדָמָ֖ה עֲלֵיהֶֽם: ^ב וַיִּבָּֽדְלוּ֙ זֶ֣רַע יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִכֹּ֖ל בְּנֵ֣י נֵכָ֑ר וַיַּעַמְד֗וּ וַיִּתְוַדּוּ֙ עַל־חַטֹּ֣אתֵיהֶ֔ם וַעֲוֹנ֖וֹת אֲבֹתֵיהֶֽם:

^9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites assembled, fasting, in sackcloth, and with earth upon them. ² Those of the stock of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

[5] That the Temple was considered the proper place for such a ritual explains why the author felt the need to explain why Judah held this ritual somewhere else.

[6] An example of an individual who reacts to a calamity with fasting is Nehemiah, who does so upon hearing of the terrible state of Jerusalem (Neh 1:4).

[7] Judah’s three day fast recalls that of Esther, which was in preparation not for war but for speaking with Ahasueros (Esther 4):

^ד:טז לֵךְ֩ כְּנ֨וֹס אֶת־כָּל־הַיְּהוּדִ֜ים הַֽנִּמְצְאִ֣ים בְּשׁוּשָׁ֗ן וְצ֣וּמוּ עָ֠לַי וְאַל־תֹּאכְל֨וּ וְאַל־תִּשְׁתּ֜וּ שְׁלֹ֤שֶׁת יָמִים֙ לַ֣יְלָה וָי֔וֹם גַּם־אֲנִ֥י וְנַעֲרֹתַ֖י אָצ֣וּם כֵּ֑ן וּבְכֵ֞ן אָב֤וֹא אֶל־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־כַדָּ֔ת וְכַאֲשֶׁ֥ר אָבַ֖דְתִּי אָבָֽדְתִּי:

^4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who live in Shushan, and fast in my behalf; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens will observe the same fast. Then I shall go to the king, though it is contrary to the law; and if I am to perish, I shall perish!”

Unlike in 2 Maccabees, since God is never mentioned in the Masoretic text of Esther, the function of this fast—other than solidarity—remains implied but never stated.

[8] Other examples of public fasts in the Bible are Jer 36:9 and 1 Kings 21:9; neither of these texts make it clear what the purpose of said fast had been. These texts do suggest that declarations of public fast days were relatively common.

[9] For more on Tobit see Malka Simkovich’s TABS essay, “The Book of Tobit.”

[10] This can be seen in passages in which an oath against eating something is made with the language “this meat/wine/etc. is to me like it is on the day on which my father/mother died.”

[11] See Kol Bo 114 in the name of Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg, referenced by Remah inShulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 402:12.

[12] See the list that appears as an addendum to the Megillat Taanit of days we should fast, and those we should not. The list still appears in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim, Laws of Fasting, 580:2).

[13] Orach Chayim, Laws of Fasting, 580:3

יש מי שאומר שגזרו שיהיו מתענין בכל שני וחמישי על חורבן הבית, ועל התורה שנשרפה, ועל חלול השם; ולעתיד לבוא יהפכם ה’ לששון ולשמחה

[14] Gen Rab, “Lech Lecha” 42:12; b. Taanit 12b; b. Shabbat 11a; Pesikta deRav Kahana 21, etc.

[15] Interestingly, we are aware of no evidence that fasting was ever part of standard mourning for the deceased, at least during the rabbinic period and on, despite the fact that it appears in the Bible as a mourning practice.